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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 177, NO. 10 | Tuesday september 11, 2012
InDEX 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 10 · Sudoku 12 · Sports
Burger service: Traditions’ new
lunch menu underwhelms.
PAGE 5
Greece lightning: Kostas
Genidounias paces men’s
water polo offense. PAGE 12
profile
By Brittany la hue
Daily Trojan
Students at USC have the
resources of the Undergraduate
Student Government and
Graduate Student Government
to represent their collective
opinions, work on solving issues
and stay connected with the
university. Faculty members
too have their elected leaders as
resources.
Dr. Charles J. Gomer, who was
recently elected vice president
of the USC faculty for the 2012
school year, said he wants to
ensure that all USC faculty
members’ voices are heard.
“In the past years the university
has finalized far-reaching
strategic visions,” Gomer said.
“Now each school will use that
vision in setting their own goals
in moving forward ... [I] will
check and see how they’re doing
and if there are things we can
do or items we can provide them
with.”
As vice president, some of
Gomer’s responsibilities will
include running the Academic
Senate, which consists of
representatives from all the USC
schools, sitting in on the faculty
and USC Trustee committee
meetings and helping each school
achieve their strategic plans. He
will also continue to serve on the
Appointments, Promotions and
Tenure Committee for the USC
Keck School of Medicine and as
vice chair of Faculty Affairs in
the Department of Pediatrics.
Gomer will also serve as the
faculty’s president-elect for the
2013 school year. The president
of the USC faculty works on
strategic planning and overall
vision, but Gomer said he hopes to
work on “enhancing the existing
communication and outreach to
all faculty so they know there is a
voice for them.”
Gomer, however, won’t only
be focusing on the faculty. As
president, he wants to work more
with USC students to improve
the graduate student program
and distance learning, which
the university has a significant
investment in for the future.
Another student issue that
Gomer wants to tackle during his
time in office is sustainability.
“The opportunities for USC
to move forward in areas of
sustainability and environmental
friendliness are tremendous,”
Gomer said. “This is an area that
we know many of our students
are actively involved in.”
Gomer was a prestigious
recruit for USC. Before coming
to Keck, he completed his
undergraduate and graduate
education in biology at State
University of New York at Buffalo
— the same graduate school as
President C. L. Max Nikias — for
a portion of his studies. When
it came time to narrow his field
of study, Gomer chose radiation
biology because of his personal
ties to the field.
“Cancer runs in my family,”
Gomer said. “I decided to go
into a program that focused on
cancer. It allowed me to do things
I learned at the lab bench, basic
research and understanding
processes, but what was really
nice is that I was able to work with
other clinicians and scientists to
move some of these [processes]
into the clinic.”
Through his research, Gomer
has been able to develop new
therapies for retinoblastoma, a
rare eye cancer that develops in
early childhood. After working
in New Mexico at National
Laboratories, which was
part of the atomic bomb and
radiation-focused Manhattan
Project during World War II,
Gomer was recruited to work for
USC to develop expertise in using
lasers and radiation therapy to
treat eye tumors.
New head of faculty emphasizes mentoring, outreach
Charles J. Gomer says he hopes to bring his focus on helping
students and staff to his job as vice president of USC faculty.
Photo courtesy of Charles J. Gomer
Opportunity · Gomer said he wants to help each school make progress
on their strategic plans as well as improve sustainability on campus.
research
By dennison giongco
Daily Trojan
A research seminar conducted
by the USC Annenberg School for
Communication and Journalism
concerning the evolution of
digital literacy worldwide was
held Monday in the Geoffrey
Cowan Forum.
The seminar featured
Cal State San Bernardino
Professor Mihaela Popescu,
whose research interests
include Internet governance,
communication history and
the relationship between media
policy and cultural capital.
Popescu’s discussion pertained
to the challenges society faces in
the global digital age as countries
begin to envision a pro-digital
learning environment.
“We know that new literacies
are shaped by conditions
associated with socioeconomic
status,” Popescu said. “We
have cause to believe that the
lack of certain digital literacy
competency may widen the
knowledge gap that already exists
along fault lines such as gender,
race and income.”
Popescu illustrated the
interconnectedness between
the effective use of digital
technologies and social, economic
and cultural capital. She
presented data from research she
conducted in 2005 on patterns of
internet consumption in different
cultures in Southeast Europe,
particularly in Romania.
According to her research,
the level of Internet usage by
particular groups of people is
dependent on social class —
high, upper status sections of
economic and civic capital tend
Event highlights Internet
literacy across cultures
High Internet usage is often
tied to higher socioeconomic
status, research shows.
| see internet, page 2 |
housing
By isabelle mason and
daniel rothberg
Daily Trojan
A new pilot program that offers
gender-inclusive housing on a
LGBT-themed floor has been dubbed
a success, according to Vincent
Vigil, director of the LGBT Resource
Center.
According to Vigil, the
program, which was approved last
March, aims to make the LGBT-themed
Rainbow Floor in Century
Apartments more inclusive for
transgender or gender-variant
students.
A gender-inclusive option
currently exists in two apartments
on the floor. Participants live in
rooms with students who identify
with the same gender but share
the apartment with students of all
genders.
Elizabeth Soriano, a junior
majoring in communications who
lives on the Rainbow Floor, said
living in one of the gender-inclusive
apartments has improved her USC
housing experience.
“It’s a really good experience
so far because I’ve had previous
experiences with housing...
Program strives
for inclusivity,
participants say
Some students say gender-inclusive
housing options have
helped improve diversity.
| see Gender, page 2 |
Shoko Oda | Daily Trojan
Digital literacy · Cal State San Bernardino Professor Mihaela Popescu presents research on how Internet-savvy
different cultural groups are at an Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism event Monday.
| see mentor, page 3 |

Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 177, NO. 10 | Tuesday september 11, 2012
InDEX 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 10 · Sudoku 12 · Sports
Burger service: Traditions’ new
lunch menu underwhelms.
PAGE 5
Greece lightning: Kostas
Genidounias paces men’s
water polo offense. PAGE 12
profile
By Brittany la hue
Daily Trojan
Students at USC have the
resources of the Undergraduate
Student Government and
Graduate Student Government
to represent their collective
opinions, work on solving issues
and stay connected with the
university. Faculty members
too have their elected leaders as
resources.
Dr. Charles J. Gomer, who was
recently elected vice president
of the USC faculty for the 2012
school year, said he wants to
ensure that all USC faculty
members’ voices are heard.
“In the past years the university
has finalized far-reaching
strategic visions,” Gomer said.
“Now each school will use that
vision in setting their own goals
in moving forward ... [I] will
check and see how they’re doing
and if there are things we can
do or items we can provide them
with.”
As vice president, some of
Gomer’s responsibilities will
include running the Academic
Senate, which consists of
representatives from all the USC
schools, sitting in on the faculty
and USC Trustee committee
meetings and helping each school
achieve their strategic plans. He
will also continue to serve on the
Appointments, Promotions and
Tenure Committee for the USC
Keck School of Medicine and as
vice chair of Faculty Affairs in
the Department of Pediatrics.
Gomer will also serve as the
faculty’s president-elect for the
2013 school year. The president
of the USC faculty works on
strategic planning and overall
vision, but Gomer said he hopes to
work on “enhancing the existing
communication and outreach to
all faculty so they know there is a
voice for them.”
Gomer, however, won’t only
be focusing on the faculty. As
president, he wants to work more
with USC students to improve
the graduate student program
and distance learning, which
the university has a significant
investment in for the future.
Another student issue that
Gomer wants to tackle during his
time in office is sustainability.
“The opportunities for USC
to move forward in areas of
sustainability and environmental
friendliness are tremendous,”
Gomer said. “This is an area that
we know many of our students
are actively involved in.”
Gomer was a prestigious
recruit for USC. Before coming
to Keck, he completed his
undergraduate and graduate
education in biology at State
University of New York at Buffalo
— the same graduate school as
President C. L. Max Nikias — for
a portion of his studies. When
it came time to narrow his field
of study, Gomer chose radiation
biology because of his personal
ties to the field.
“Cancer runs in my family,”
Gomer said. “I decided to go
into a program that focused on
cancer. It allowed me to do things
I learned at the lab bench, basic
research and understanding
processes, but what was really
nice is that I was able to work with
other clinicians and scientists to
move some of these [processes]
into the clinic.”
Through his research, Gomer
has been able to develop new
therapies for retinoblastoma, a
rare eye cancer that develops in
early childhood. After working
in New Mexico at National
Laboratories, which was
part of the atomic bomb and
radiation-focused Manhattan
Project during World War II,
Gomer was recruited to work for
USC to develop expertise in using
lasers and radiation therapy to
treat eye tumors.
New head of faculty emphasizes mentoring, outreach
Charles J. Gomer says he hopes to bring his focus on helping
students and staff to his job as vice president of USC faculty.
Photo courtesy of Charles J. Gomer
Opportunity · Gomer said he wants to help each school make progress
on their strategic plans as well as improve sustainability on campus.
research
By dennison giongco
Daily Trojan
A research seminar conducted
by the USC Annenberg School for
Communication and Journalism
concerning the evolution of
digital literacy worldwide was
held Monday in the Geoffrey
Cowan Forum.
The seminar featured
Cal State San Bernardino
Professor Mihaela Popescu,
whose research interests
include Internet governance,
communication history and
the relationship between media
policy and cultural capital.
Popescu’s discussion pertained
to the challenges society faces in
the global digital age as countries
begin to envision a pro-digital
learning environment.
“We know that new literacies
are shaped by conditions
associated with socioeconomic
status,” Popescu said. “We
have cause to believe that the
lack of certain digital literacy
competency may widen the
knowledge gap that already exists
along fault lines such as gender,
race and income.”
Popescu illustrated the
interconnectedness between
the effective use of digital
technologies and social, economic
and cultural capital. She
presented data from research she
conducted in 2005 on patterns of
internet consumption in different
cultures in Southeast Europe,
particularly in Romania.
According to her research,
the level of Internet usage by
particular groups of people is
dependent on social class —
high, upper status sections of
economic and civic capital tend
Event highlights Internet
literacy across cultures
High Internet usage is often
tied to higher socioeconomic
status, research shows.
| see internet, page 2 |
housing
By isabelle mason and
daniel rothberg
Daily Trojan
A new pilot program that offers
gender-inclusive housing on a
LGBT-themed floor has been dubbed
a success, according to Vincent
Vigil, director of the LGBT Resource
Center.
According to Vigil, the
program, which was approved last
March, aims to make the LGBT-themed
Rainbow Floor in Century
Apartments more inclusive for
transgender or gender-variant
students.
A gender-inclusive option
currently exists in two apartments
on the floor. Participants live in
rooms with students who identify
with the same gender but share
the apartment with students of all
genders.
Elizabeth Soriano, a junior
majoring in communications who
lives on the Rainbow Floor, said
living in one of the gender-inclusive
apartments has improved her USC
housing experience.
“It’s a really good experience
so far because I’ve had previous
experiences with housing...
Program strives
for inclusivity,
participants say
Some students say gender-inclusive
housing options have
helped improve diversity.
| see Gender, page 2 |
Shoko Oda | Daily Trojan
Digital literacy · Cal State San Bernardino Professor Mihaela Popescu presents research on how Internet-savvy
different cultural groups are at an Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism event Monday.
| see mentor, page 3 |